Hester Prynne In The Scarlet Letter

In a Puritan community of seventeenth-century Boston, a woman, Hester Prynne has committed adultery and is brought upon a scaffold so that she may be punished and known as a public disgrace. As her punishment, she must wear a scarlet “A” on her chest to serve a symbol of her crime. Hester, bearing the letter “A” on her chest, lives a moral and upstanding life, in spite of her “sin.” Although the Puritan authorities believe that she is permanently marked, Hester exceeds their low expectations for her.
Many might consider that Hester Prynne is an immoral character based on her alleged crime. Although people forget to consider she felt lonely, as her husband never arrived in the colony until the day she was led on to the scaffold. Hester did not …show more content…
Though the leaders placed a lenient punishment on Hester Prynne, she receives lots of criticism from everyone, like the women from the old country in chapter 2 reiterate that her punishment is weak and that the founders should have placed a harsher punishment on her, “If we women, being mature of age and church members in good repute, should have the handling of some malefactresses as this Hester Prynne. What think ye, gossips? If the hussy stood up for the judgement before us five, that are now here in a knot together, would she come off with such a sentence as the worshipful magistrates have awarded?” Pearl is the product of Hester’s and Dimmesdale’s wildness, as she serves that symbol of wildness and beauty in ugly places, she is often also judged by her mother’s action. The way the townsfolk treat Pearl is immoral as she cannot decide who her mother is or the decisions her mother makes. The townsfolk and leaders may contemplate, that Hester did not have the right to have relations with another because she did not receive any confirmation about her husband dying. All the people that knew about the trip could have died, or Chillingworth could have left Hester alone on purpose. They're hypocrites, as they change their view of Hester as she does good deeds, as she previously did, which they were too quick to judge. As we see in chapter 23, Dimmesdale reveals his secret, …show more content…
We see her admit this to Roger Chillingworth in chapter 4, “I have greatly wronged thee,” murmured Hester.” Even though she wears the letter upon her chest, Hester shows her strength and dignity and how and did not allow it to steal her spirit. It is proven throughout the book, especially after Pearl's birth when Hester's courage and determination are exhibited. We must remember all Hester did was love and care for her daughter. Besides, she is the character that shows strength and stands by her morals,

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